Spring in China, time to shed the Puffa Jackets! Or is it?
Spring has arrived in Shanghai, the sun is shining at a pleasant 16-22 degrees, flowers are blossoming and all my jackets are packed away in the top of my wardrobe. But when I look around me, something’s not quite right, something doesn’t quite fit the picture of spring.
PUFFA JACKETS! Yes people, the weather has warmed up but yet everywhere I look Puffa Jackets are still decorating the backs of the Chinese like it’s the latest spring fashion trend! Being an Australian, any sight of warm weather means time to bring out the t-shirts and shorts. But it is this Aussie way of dressing for warm weather that is getting me a lot of stares!
Just the other day it was a pleasant 17 degrees (Celsius), I was on my way to work in the mid-afternoon wearing a tank top, cardigan, jeans and…sandals. Everyone was checking me out but sadly it had nothing to do with how physically attractive they thought I was, oh no I’m sure they were only checking me out because they thought I was crazy!
Through the lenses of my over sized sunglasses I could see their glances at my outfit, I could see them checking me out from my sunglasses, down to my tank top, cardigan and then straight to my sandals and my painted toenails. Each person that glanced my way had a similar expression on their face, a mixed look of horror, confusion and laughter. One lady in my apartment complex said to me “bu leng ma” (not cold?) “bu shi” (no), I replied, then motioned that it was hot pretending to fan myself. After all, the weather was far from cold, I was actually feeling pretty warm!
Once I got into the metro station I was hit with a wave of heat! It was boiling hot, and on metro was even worse! Though the temperature was rising outside the temperature of the heating didn’t seem to have changed since Shanghai’s deathly, bitter cold winter. So there I was, sweating, in the metro ready to drink 4 liters of water while all the people around me were still rugged up like it was winter, still wearing their Puffa Jackets! They certainly weren’t squirming in the uncomfortable heat like I was! I couldn’t help but think ‘Is there something wrong with me!?’
A few weekends ago my best friend (who’s Chinese) and I were planning on going out for coffee, but being girls before we could go out we had to decide what to wear. Discussing what clothing would be most appropriate after checking the weather and poking half my body out the window I decided to wear a t-shirt. She was tossing up whether or not to wear a vest over her long sleeve top. “Are you mad!” I said “it’s 19 degrees!”, “No” she said “I’m Chinese.” And with that statement somehow I realised why at this time of year in China I always looked like the odd one out rocking some fashion trend that know one in this country understands at least not in this weather.
Amazingly somehow through the process of evolution the Chinese miraculously don’t seem to feel the heat like us westerners do. In Autumn they feel like their freezing when I simply feel a bit chilly, in spring they still feel that it’s cold when I’m feeling pretty warm and in the summer when sweat is pouring down my face and back and making me feel like I need to take 3 showers a day, just a few beads of sweat drip over their brows.
And really evolution did them a favour, in fact I’m extremely envious. Just think about it, we buy the most expensive clothes in winter, Puffa Jackets cost and arm and a leg compared to a t-shirt, so if you can wear it for 6 months of the year not only are you really getting your money’s worth but you don’t have to buy so many t-shirts that soon enough are just going to be soiled from sweat and ready for the rubbish bin!
So while I wish I had Chinese genetics causing me to sweat less and get my money’s worth out of my winter wardrobe; and despite the stares I get for my ‘inappropriate spring dress’ I’d still much rather walk around feeling un-constricted and free in my t-shirt and shorts instead of my 5 layers and Puffa Jacket. Really, nothing says spring more then the feeling of the (finally) warm sun beating down on your skin turning it a golden shade of tan while you wear your t-shirt, shorts and thongs (Flipflops for you American’s, Jandles for you Kiwi’s). I’ll take my spring in t-shirts and shorts and day of the week! (providing it’s above 15 degrees)
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Epilogue
Since first writing this post while sitting on my couch wearing a t-shirt and shorts with the window wide open letting in the cool spring breeze; the weather has warmed up even more! or maybe it was just me? Apparently traipsing out of my apartment complex in a t-shirt and shorts in 22 degrees just shouldn’t be done, in fact it’s more than that, it’s apparently completely CRAZY! At least that’s what all the stares and the people who spoke to me in the shops seemed to think! It’s easy to forget you’re different in Shanghai, no one really stares at you for being foreign, but boy did I get stares that day! Never have I gotten so many stares in all my time in Shanghai! The moral of the story, if you’re planning on wearing a t-shirt and shorts out in public if it’s under 25 degrees then mentally prepare yourself for all the stares and questions you’re inevitably going to get!
Category: Blog
You must be more warm-blooded than I (I’m almost always cold)! Either that, or I’m turning Chinese!!
I don’t still have my down coat on, but I will still cop to wearing a pair of tights under my jeans, and a couple layers of shirts. My defense is that while it’s warm outside, it’s still pretty chilly inside the buildings here, since the concrete is still warming up from the winter.
That being said, don’t you get stares wearing thongs (flip flops) even in the summer? On the warmest day of the year here, if I wear them, I’ll still get nasty stares, because here they are considered “slippers”, are only meant to be worn in the house/shower, and feet are kind of rude/not to be shown.
Kelly recently posted..There’s an App for That
Tights under your jeans still! Wow! Whats the temperature like there at the moment?
The beauty of being in a big city is once the weather warms up even the Chinese here wear flip flops or sandals which is great for an Aussie! Though even in the smaller cities around here it’s not really a problem, I remember spring and summer last year I was complaining how hot my feet were in my ballet flats and the Chinese teacher said to me “why don’t you just wear sandals”, “for work, really?” I said “yeah” she said “the other teacher’s are” and low and behold when I went to the cafeteria for lunch time I looked at those teacher’s feet and surprisingly many of them were wearing sandals! I guess the East Chinese are more liberal. Maybe it’s because of the humidity here, already the humidity is at 70% YUK!
The temperature was supposedly around 23 today. Today was the first day I ventured to school without tights under my jeans since last October or November. Bear in mind, I am a naturally cold person, and our buildings are still a number of degrees cooler inside than outside. Even our students are still wearing sweaters and most people are walking around in jackets (although lighter ones, not down coats anymore).
We do get the heat and humidity in summer too (maybe not quite as humid as Shanghai though), but it’s rare than anyone wears flip flops and we foreigners get stares if we do. Sandals are different – if shoes have a strap around the ankles, they are sandals and that is OK, or if they have a toe strap and a heel (like a ladies’ shoe) they are OK…BUT if they are flat and only have a toe strap they are NOT OK because then they are slippers.
Kelly recently posted..There’s an App for That
It’s interesting just how much difference a heel can make! A heel can turn flip flops into something fashionable and acceptable! Same thing with diamantes to I guess, add some sparkle and they’re no longer slippers!
Thanks for the comment
Umm.. weather is getting warm, then suddenly cold again, then warm, then cloudy, seems like someone is making fun of us.. Today I was all ready to wear t-shirt and when I went out it was windy and cold.. I’m so looking forward to the summer, this winter has been too long!
Angela recently posted..Shanghai Museum- an exquisite sample of China
It’s the wind that really catches you off guard! That’s why my cardigan is my best friend, it makes ever T-shirt wind friendly!
I dunno if I’m so excited about summer, I was until I remembered the monsoonal washout of last year, oh and that nasty humidity. If the weather was like it is now without the wind it would be almost perfect for me! 
Funny post Sasha and very true. The Chinese “fear cold” as they themselves see. The believe “cold” is the harbinger of all things bad. Yes, when you walk down the street, scantily clad in this freezing weather, most of them are probably looking on with pity. They wonder if you are in your right mind and how can your parents be so bad to let you out like that (since most folks here are led by their parents, until they reach 30′s+).
I think by late May in Suzhou, the jackets start to thin out (but remember to ward of disease year ’round, keep your stomach warm)
Help the poor folks around you to stop worrying….wear more clothes!
Jacob Yount recently posted..Work-Pt II
You forgot the umbrellas they carry to shield themselves away from the sun! haha!
I was out yesterday in slippers and shorts, while I received the usual stares for being brown skinned, I got a couple for the “weird” dressing sense. A chinese friend of mine was saying that, many chinese girls fear the sun on their skin. They do not appreciate the tan. Or at least she didn’t.
Cheers
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